


Fall From Grace

by DRHPaints



Category: Barry (TV 2018), Bill Hader - Fandom
Genre: Acting, Blow Jobs, Casual Sex, Cunnilingus, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Face-Fucking, Face-Sitting, Gun Violence, Knife Violence, Light Angst, Light Dom/sub, Natural Born Killers References, One Shot, Pining, Smut, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:07:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29236554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DRHPaints/pseuds/DRHPaints
Summary: Barry tries to ignore Grace, a new addition to the acting class with an obvious crush. But when Cousineau pairs them together as the violently sexual Mickey and Mallory Knox in a scene from 'Natural Born Killers,' Barry's internal promise never to get involved with another student again starts to waver.
Relationships: Barry Berkman/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 16





	Fall From Grace

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crazylittleangel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazylittleangel/gifts).



> For those who are unfamiliar with the movie 'Natural Born Killers' here is a link to the opening scene referenced in this fic:  
> https://youtu.be/dH1QmfQnWbg  
> Warning: It is incredibly violent. Here's some TW/CW. Hopefully I don't miss any, but apologies if I do- alcohol use, misogyny, blood, gore, murder, knife violence, language, gun violence, flashing/seizure inducing imagery
> 
> I don't know if I wrote this well enough to visualize the scene without knowing the film tbh. I suppose someone who hasn't seen it would have to be the judge of that.

_ Just stare straight ahead. Don’t look. You’re watching Nick and Natalie. It’s fine. Just ignore her. _

Shifting uncomfortably, Barry blinked and cleared his throat, all too aware that while the rest of the class observed Natalie and Nick’s hollow, stalling portrayal of Agent Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter in  _ Silence of the Lambs, _ Grace’s green eyes were glued to Barry.

Ever since Grace joined the acting class a couple of months ago, Barry, and frankly everyone else, couldn’t help but notice her infatuation. Though she didn’t annoy him or follow Barry around like a lost puppy, Grace eagerly volunteered to be his partner in any scene if the opportunity presented itself, arm shooting into the air without fail as soon as Cousineau poised the inquiry. 

And when the group blew off steam at Residuals, Grace would inevitably try to coax Barry into conversation, hope to rope him onto the dance floor, but he always politely declined.

But most transparent of all were her compliments surrounding Barry’s performance. No matter how poorly, how tragically awful his work on their humble stage, Grace never failed to rush up to Barry afterward, a glowing font of praise. Though Barry noticed she never outright lied. He appreciated that, despite Grace’s obvious attraction, she wouldn’t say, “Oh Barry, you’re such a fantastic actor! That was really moving! I’m sure you’re going to make it soon!” Or anything else she didn’t believe to be 100% true. Sure, she knew how to stroke his ego, but Barry realized she did so while choosing her words...carefully.

For instance, last week after he and Jermaine irredeemably bombed playing Andy Defresne and Red from  _ The Shawshank Redemption _ , Grace approached, emerald eyes sparkling and blood red smile warm, to inform Barry his “projection improved today” and she thought his posture “really encapsulated the brokenness of the character.”

Obviously Grace knew Barry simply slumped everywhere he went, the tall man’s spine a banana curve as he winced away from an unkind world, shadowing himself wherever possible, but she hoped Barry might think her words encouraging. Barry did.

It wasn’t that Barry didn’t like Grace. Tall, voluptuous, and he nursed a soft spot for redheads, of course Barry thought her appealing. And, in addition to her effusive kindness, Grace proved to be funny, interesting, and similarly devoted to her new found craft of acting.

But after things fell apart with Sally, Barry made a promise to himself not to get involved with another classmate. Not to pursue a relationship with anyone, really, until he could disengage from the life of crime which so irreparably trapped Barry’s tortured soul.

And so, when they applauded genially as Natalie and Nick bowed before Cousineau called for a five minute break, Barry’s wide mouth grinned as Grace sidled up to him, but his cobalt eyes shifted and he shoved his hands in his pockets, unconsciously leaning away.

“Hey Barry.” Hitching her bag up on her shoulder while the smokers in the class flitted past in their rush to get out the door, Grace tilted her head, causing an avalanche of crimson waves over one shoulder. “How’re you doing today?”

“Oh, I’m pretty good, I guess…” Barry bobbed his head, lips folded under. Talking to Grace felt as if Barry were constantly waiting for the bass to drop in a song he never heard before, hyperconscious of her desire to ask him out, and running out of ways to skirt the issue. “How-how are you doing today?”

Shrugging, Grace nodded and looked to the stage. “I’m okay. So, what did you think of Natalie and Nick?”

“Oh, they were great.” Barry’s crooked grin appeared as he glanced at the empty platform. “I haven’t seen that movie though, so I don’t really know.”

Melodious cackle ringing out as she clutched her belly, Grace shook her head in amusement. “Of course you haven’t, Barry. I’m not surprised.” Hesitating, Grace bit her lip and studied Barry’s chiseled features. “You know, since you haven’t seen so many popular movies… Maybe sometime we could--”

“Alright, everybody!” Cousineau clapped his hands together as the rest of the class trickled back in and Barry exhaled in relief, waving in goodbye to Grace as they both took their seats and doing his best to ignore her slightly disappointed expression. “Now, for the rest of our time today…” Sheaf of scripts tucked under his arm, Cousineau’s soft but authoritative voice drew them in as he held a palm aloft. “I would like us to get started on a new group scene. With this, we’ll be practicing many concepts, some new, some we’ve covered before…”

Handing off to Natalie, she distributed the papers among the others and Barry looked down, reading, ‘NATURAL BORN KILLERS - Dir. Oliver Stone. OPENING SCENE.’

“Alright, now, as I said, many different skills will be at play here.” Cousineau began ticking off on his diminutive hand as he paced before the group. “Blocking, stage combat, object work, as well as your more typical tasks of finding the motivation of your characters and exploring the depth of their emotions.” 

Wrinkles of joyful anticipation crinkled in the corners of his eyes as Cousineau paused to observe before resting back on his heels. “Now, the way I envision this…” Drawing a rectangle in the air, Cousineau framed the shape with his fingers, peering intently at nothing and Barry smiled. “Is for Barry…” Twitching a bit in alarm, Barry sat up in his seat. “To play Mickey Knox and I think…” Cousineau’s contemplative gaze scanned the students for a moment before he nodded with a little hop of revelation. “Ah yes, Grace! Why don’t you play Mallory? As for the other roles…”

Cousineau doled out the remaining minor parts before fishing his phone from his pocket. “Alright, for homework, in case any of you aren’t familiar, and even if you are, I want you to brush up on this scene, highlight your scripts, of course, and start to…” Gesturing to his chest, Cousineau wiggled a bit in thespian reverie. “Summon the muse, so to speak. Mull on how you’d like to bring these characters to life, and we’ll begin the process on Tuesday.” After a few quick taps on his screen, Barry’s own phone buzzed in his pocket and Cousineau smiled. “Alright, everybody, great job today! Enjoy your weekend!”

Without fail, Natalie zoomed to Cousineau’s side, Barry figuring she wanted to dissect her assigned role as Mabel the waitress in excruciating detail. And though his curiosity about the mysterious Mickey Knox from yet another unseen film nearly caused him to linger in their quaint studio, Barry hurriedly stuffed the script into his backpack, losing himself among the departing students in an effort to avoid the end of Grace’s question on the way to the parking lot.

Safely ensconced in the privacy of his bedroom, Barry clicked the link from Cousineau and watched in eye-widening horror. Not only would he be expected to dance around and kiss Grace, but the idea that Gene thought him perfectly suited to portray the psychopathic, ruthless Mickey filled Barry with a bilious concern. 

Did this mean some aspect of the mask he held up for the world slipped? Could Gene see the glutinous monstrosity peeking around the edges? A flash of a hateful eye? A ghoulish curl of lip? Had Barry failed to don the polite, deferential costume of humanity he worked so hard to create and step inside day after day?

Though the California sunlight continued to leak around his blinds, Barry curled in bed, hugging a pillow to his firm chest. Barry didn’t like to admit the demons whorling within his mind, kicking up dirt and disturbing the quiet. Barry didn’t like to admit that perhaps acting, though a passion and a goal, to be sure, failed to hold his attention in the same way molding his large hands around a weapon did on the shadowed evenings of his second profession. 

But most of all, as Barry nestled into the cold sheets, swatting hopelessly at the intrusive thoughts, sleep an unlikely companion, he didn’t want to admit the one truth he hid from for months: Barry was immensely, undeniably lonely.

***

For the better part of Tuesday’s class they blocked out the scene, Barry in luck as he merely needed to sit and mime eating pie for the first half. 

“Okay, so, I’ll come over here to the jukebox…” Grace motioned to an empty spot of nothing and deposited an invisible quarter. “Dance, dance, dance…” Rotating her hand in the air, Nick strolled over. “And then…”

“Yes, you clock him.” Gene nodded. “Make sure to use the fist opposite the audience. Grace, have you done any stage combat?” Shaking her head, Grace looked at Nick and Cousineau in trepidation. “Don’t worry, Nick’s done plenty, haven’t you?” Nick, who would be playing the role of the lecherous hick, Sonny, bobbed his head in reassurance. “He’ll help you out.”

As Barry’s sharp jaw rolled around a mock bite of key lime, he observed Nick’s instruction of Grace, distracted by how she gathered her scarlet mane into a high bun as he informed her on how best to punch without causing injury.

Fists high and emerald eyes focused, she struck out at Nick again and again, kicking and dragging him across the stage as they worked through the extensive fight. Barry twisted on the stool, transfixed, before remembering his character was meant to be leisurely enjoying his dessert.

Pale flesh atingle and prominent cheekbones pink, Barry thanked the deities of theater for Natalie’s preoccupation with ratcheting up the fear in her performance, chiding himself for getting so revved by Grace’s wanton violence.

“Alright everybody,” Cousineau summoned them together once the bare bones of the scene were laid. “Now, if you want to take ten, get into your characters, we’ll do a first run and see how it goes. Sound good? Great.”

Clapping to dismiss them, Barry supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised when Grace neared, script gripped and smile teetering. “Hey Barry, you mind if I talk to you for a minute?”

“Oh sure.” Barry twisted his own pages in his large hands as they stepped toward the makeshift counter. “What’s up?”

“Well, I just wanted to see how you were feeling about some of the things in here.” Grace flipped through the sheets and frowned. Unsure how to tell her he hated the idea of acting the part of a murderous maniac because he worried everyone could tell that’s exactly who he was, Barry chose to stay silent. “Like...I’m thinking we skip the accents, right? At least...I’ve been running it without one. I don’t know if you…”

With an alleviated sigh, Barry bobbed his head. “Oh great. Yeah, I tried, but I’d...yeah. I don’t want to do that.”

“Okay, sweet, and, um…” Barry noticed Grace’s dainty hands on the last page, lip bitten. “So...so I know we didn’t go through it back there and all, but…” Taking a deep breath, Grace puffed out her cheeks, causing an errant curlicue of red to dance as she shook her head in dismay. “Okay...well…” Green gaze on the black floor between them, Grace shifted her weight from side to side. “You know I...like you. At least I’m pretty sure you do. And, um...I just…” Rubbing her elbow with the opposite hand, Grace swallowed. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. If I made you uncomfortable. Or...or anything. I get that you're not interested or whatever and I’ll leave you alone. But…” Smiling wryly, Grace tapped the script and shrugged. “We still have to do this, so...I dunno. Let’s just get through it. I’ll try not to make it weird.” Grace chuckled, touching her brow. “Well...any more weird than I’m making it right now. I’m...I’m really sorry, Barry.”

Pink lips parted in silence, Barry extended his fingers toward Grace before thinking better and letting his arm fall. “Oh Grace, I…” Dark brows furrowed, the cords of his neck stood out as Barry sought the right words. “It’s...it’s okay. You didn’t make me uncomfortable. And it’s not that I don’t…” Barry stopped, nostrils wide, evening sky of his eyes landing on the dusty ground as an acrid resentment of the life he led burbled within his stubbled throat. “That I wouldn’t...I just...I can’t.”

“Oh…” Tilting her head in confusion, Grace blinked. “I’m sorry, are you seeing someone? I thought...I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have been flirting with you if--”

“Oh no, nothing like that.” Barry held up his wide palms in exasperation, trying to think of a way to explain which didn’t include words like ‘murder,’ ‘gun,’ or ‘hitman.’ “I just...yeah. I’m not able to...right now.”

If anything Grace appeared even more bewildered, then her face relaxed as she looked Barry up and down with a nod. “Oh...are you gay? I’m sorry, my mistake. I thought I heard you dated a woman around here before…”

“Oh, no, I like women, too.” Cobalt eyes on the ceiling, Barry inhaled sharply, realizing Grace gave him two perfectly acceptable escapes and he took neither. “I just...I’m not...ready. To be in a relationship right now. I guess…”

“Oh…” Grace nodded her head, slipping her hands into her back pockets. “That’s cool, no problem…I won’t ask again.” Lower lip protruding, she scanned those around and Barry looked at her curiously as Grace swiveled in closer, voice low and eyes averted. “But, um, Barry, just so you know…” Grace tucked a lock of auburn behind her ear before her viridescent gaze penetrated with a whisper that left Barry shivering. “I’d be up for something more...casual. If you’re into that. Just saying. No pressure. But if you’re not, we can just forget it. Anyway…”

Clearing her throat and red faced, Grace flattened her script down over her thigh, affording Barry a generous peek at her cleavage in the second before she stood up. “We...we should...yeah. Anything else you wanted to discuss about this, Barry?”

“Nope.” Voice eking out even higher than usual, Barry shook his head and hitched something resembling a smile on his face. “Nope, I...I’m good.”

Looking anywhere but Barry’s flushing features, Grace nodded altogether too quickly and stepped back. “Right, okay. So we’ll...the scene. We’ll...the fighting. And dancing...and yeah. Thanks, Barry. Yeah…” 

Grace scurried away, kicking herself for being so forward with a man obviously disinterested in her advances. As if it weren’t bad enough she threw herself at Barry over the last several weeks to no avail, now she shamelessly hurled a sexual proposition right at his unsuspecting feet minutes before they were expected to kiss for a crowd.  _ Great, Grace. Real smooth. Smart… _

But a scant two minutes were given Grace to flagellate herself before Gene called places and she awkwardly shuffled beside Barry, placing herself on the stool and wishing the invisible cigarette she puffed would materialize to assuage her nerves. 

Barry scanned the mock menu, hyper-aware of the distance between his elbow and Grace as Natalie stood in front of them switching the channels on a ghost television. 

As Barry ordered his pie, distracted and voice vacant, he rushed through the words in his anxiety, fingers rattling on the table until Grace tapped her cigarette into the would-be ashtray at his wrist. 

“Whatever.” Grace rose, sauntering over to stage left. And though no jukebox existed, and no music played, Grace’s undulating hips bewitched Barry. Barry’s brain told him the curvaceous, gyrating Grace, with her crimson waves swirling and her fingers taunting, were not enough of a reason for him to break the deal he made with himself, even if she wanted him, even if she thought sleeping with him might be a good idea.

But Barry’s eyes, dark blue razors of rapacious need, didn’t listen, cutting across to Grace’s shimmying form whenever possible. And his huge hands, though not grasping a real fork nor prodding true confection, failed to miss Barry’s wide mouth by a mile as his neck twisted. 

Nick and Jermaine entered as Sonny and Earl, Jermaine plopping down next to Barry after encouraging Nick’s character to ‘take a run’ at Mallory, as played by Grace.

“That’s some sweet piece of meat, ain’t it?” Jermaine accepted the mimed beer from Natalie, and when Barry didn’t respond, prodded him with an elbow.

“Oh, um…” Remembering he was supposed to be holding a newspaper, Barry propped his forearms on the counter and cleared his throat. “Her name’s Mallory.”

Shrugging, Jermaine smirked wickedly. “Mallory. Whatever. Who gives a shit? I call it pussy.”

Grace’s movements grinding to a halt, Nick’s godawful southern accent, which surprised Barry considering he hailed from Florida, rang out. “Don’t stop now, darlin’! I’m just gettin’ started!” 

Nick continued to thrust and circle Grace, but even from his perspective at the counter, Barry saw a dangerous glint in her green eyes. “Are you flirting with me?”

She didn’t say the line as Juliette Lewis did in the movie, a sing-song full of cutesy tease meant to throw the drunken Sonny off-balance. Instead, the smoke evaporated from Grace’s voice, exposing shards of glass underneath, her goal to show that Sonny’s character was too inebriated, too enraptured to see the oncoming storm.

Grace clocked Nick. Again and again. Kicking him in the stomach, the groin, and every dark hair on Barry’s body stood at rapt attention

When Jermaine hopped up to help his buddy in distress, he looked back at Barry and  _ ‘psst’ed _ to remind him to rise and start attacking. Embarrassed, Barry stumbled his way through. Normally he found Nick’s portrayal of toxically masculine men endlessly amusing, but when Grace, tone frozen and eyes fire, glared down with clenched fists and asked Nick, “How sexy am I now, huh, pretty boy?” Goosebumps erupted over Barry’s wan flesh and he smeared a wrist over his pink lips to prevent himself whispering, ‘ _ Very.’ _

Moving behind the counter, Barry cupped his fingers around a fake money till, emptying the contents into his pockets after Grace yanked Nick’s neck viciously to the side. “Honey, come on. He’s dead.”

Features softening for the first time, Grace skipped across to Barry, and tried to naturally jump into his strong arms, though given their previous exchange she felt incredibly awkward expecting the tall, gorgeous man to lift and twirl her around. “No!” Grace shouted, pointing at Natalie as she tried to slink offstage. “There is no escaping here!” 

Playing ‘eenie meenie miney moe’ with Mabel the waitress and the up until that point silent Pinball Cowboy Antonio, his hands up and face a mask of fear, Barry pulled the trigger of his finger at Natalie and she drooped to the floor. Grace and Barry advanced menacingly on Antonio, and after declaring him the sole survivor of their massacre, Grace urged him to tell the world, “Mickey and Mallory Knox did it.” 

Grace turned to Barry, scrunching through her auburn tresses with a satisfied grin. “Mickey and Mallory Knox.” Again, Grace forewent the sappy devoted look Juliette Lewis’ character offered Woody Harralson, and instead lifted a shoulder, tongue running over her teeth within her mouth as she rested her weight on one rounded hip and sighed. “I love you, Mickey.”

Uneven grin floating to his face, Barry tilted his head. “I love you, Mallory.” Holding out his arms, Grace leapt up and wrapped herself around him like a squid, Barry’s large hands hooking under her thighs as their lips locked and he spun them around the stage.

Barry’s heart thrummed as he lowered Grace, twirling her out and back into his firm chest, their fingers interlacing in breathless silence as he welcomed her to the dark shores of his gaze before Cousineau yelled, “Cut!”

“Alright…” Gene teetered a hand back and forth in the air, corners of his mouth downturned in appraisal. “Not bad, everyone. Not bad. But I think we can do better. Now...Barry.” Ascending the stairs, Gene gently touched Barry’s elbow. “I need you to…” Pinching his fingers together in front of his face, Gene narrowed his eyes. “Focus, alright? Really get into Mickey’s head, here. He’s calm and collected even in the most violent of situations, okay? Got it?”

“Okay.” Swallowing hard, the muscle in Barry’s sharp jaw popped. “Got it. Thank you, Mr. Cousineau.” 

Rounding on Grace, Gene smiled. “That was good, but don’t be afraid to go bigger. This character is full on crazy, right? So have some fun with her. Give it everything you got.”

“Sounds good.” Grace nodded, shaking out her limbs in preparation. “Thank you.”

Gene continued advising the others and Barry moseyed over to Grace, clearing his throat and trying to slyly beckon for her to follow stage left. “Hey, so, um…” Trapping a breath in his lungs, Barry looked to the ceiling as he crinkled his script in fretting hands. “So...so what you said before…”

“Oh really, Barry, I....I’m sorry…” Grace shook her head and took half a step away. “I shouldn’t...that wasn’t cool. I just...yeah. I just blurted that out like an idiot. I’m really sorry. Please just forget about it. I just...we can just be friends. Or classmates. Or whatever. I promise I’ll leave you alone. Really.” Palms up and face a disaster of shame, Grace emitted a woeful sigh. “I’m so sorry.”

Licking his lips and tucking them away, Barry nodded a little before studying his feet. “And what, if, um...what if...I didn’t want to forget it?” Barry exhaled audibly, cobalt eyes ping ponging around the room as Grace stood, agog. “If...if I wanted to...did you really mean...what you said?”

Oxygen failing her, Grace’s arms dropped limp at her side as she gawked at Barry’s fidgeting form. “Y-yeah. Yeah, I...I did.”

“So, um...we could...we could get together...just for…” Tall frame tensing, Barry’s nasal voice squeaked out as Grace leaned in.

“Sex?” 

Barry accidentally tore the last page of his script in half, nodding insistently. “Yeah, um...yeah, if…” Biting his upper lip, Barry’s crisp jaw tensed and he blinked rapidly. “If...if you were serious. I...want. That. Too.”

Attempting to swallow past the lump of shock in her throat, Grace nodded in dumbfounded silence. “Yeah, I...yeah. Me too. Yes. I was. Serious.” Exhalation stuttering out of her as she waded into the tumultuous sea of Barry’s eyes, Grace unconsciously licked her blood red lips and, if possible, Barry’s all-body flinch cranked into a higher gear. “If, um...after class? Do you want...my place? Maybe?”

“Yeah…” Clearing his throat once. Twice. Three times, Barry crushed the paper in his hands past the point of readability. “Yeah...okay. Sounds...sounds good. Um…” Barry looked around. Cousineau finished up with Antonio and called for places. Filling his built chest with a halting breath of resolve, Barry nodded. “Yeah, I’ll...after class. We can...yeah. I’ll...good. Yes.”

“Okay.” Shoulders relaxing a bit, a smile of anticipation spread over Grace’s face and she indulged herself in a squeeze of Barry’s carved forearm, relishing how his cheeks turned an even deeper shade of fuschia. “Sounds good. Looking forward to it.”

An irrepressible giggle shot out of Barry. Left eye squinting, exposing his rounded teeth and ending with a snort. Barry smacked a wide palm over his mouth to contain his high-pitched glee. “Yeah, um...me too. Thanks. I’ll…” Head teetering, Barry’s eyes darted sheepishly, pink lips hardly moving around a restrained grin. “I’ll see you after class then. Um, yeah...sounds...sounds good.”

With a coy wave Grace resumed her spot behind the counter, Barry joining her and exerting every iota of effort to keep his attention on Natalie once Gene called action. Though his mind swirled with possibilities of the evening to come, Barry did what he could to shove the thoughts away and focus on his craft. Yes, Barry looked forward to what might happen with Grace tonight. But right now, he needed to become Mickey Knox, psychopathic murderer on a soulless killing spree, unrepentant and vile.

In the brief moment when Nick and Jermaine entered, back to Cousineau, Barry disappeared inside, eyes shut and room fading. Barry contemplated the character of Mickey. Violent. Cruel. Heartless. Delighting in the pain of others without apology. Though tender when it came to Mallory and Mallory alone.

Barry thought of the Quiet. The cold Empty. The space inside in which Nothing resides, dark and silent. The black, heartless spot Barry could go when he lifted the pistol, drove in the knife, closed a fist around a pleading throat.

Perhaps, were Mickey a real man, he and Barry could meet in that dim place. Tip their hats to one another across the shadowed lane, no words necessary as they acknowledged the repugnant sameness, their mutual monsters smirking in the barren moonlight.

And though Barry possessed no such person in his life as Mallory, someone who he would do anything for, kill for, he could relate to the impulse to protect a precious entity within one’s existence by tossing the sodden cape of killing over the crystalline surface.

Barry loved acting. Wanted to break out and make a name for himself more than perhaps anything. But with that love, Barry would willingly, dichotomously, continue to kill anyone and everyone who prevented him getting to his goal. Any who chained him to a former life he abhorred. Even though continuing to flex these long held skills meant neglecting the new ones he purported to desire.

Could Grace be the Mallory to his Mickey? Barry didn’t think so. Though over the past two months he didn’t take the time to get to know her, Barry doubted there was anyone with whom he could be himself completely. But perhaps, just for tonight, Grace would allow him to lower the mask. If only a little...

Cobalt orbs flashing open, Jermaine perched next to him, elbowing Barry suggestively. “That’s some sweet piece of meat, ain’t it?”

Wrists downturning the newspaper, Barry’s nose flared, words wind whispering over a deserted road as he spoke through gritted teeth. “Her name’s…” Glowering ahead unblinking, Barry’s sculpted jaw flickered in warning as every muscle in his broad back swelled to readiness. “Mallory.”

When Nick and Grace began fighting, Barry’s heart beat a tattoo against his firm chest, and this time when Jermaine stood to intercede, he grabbed him instantly. “You son of a bitch.”

Inch from Jermaine’s nose, Barry retrieved the invisible knife from his belt, left eye twitching incessantly as he snarled. “It’s not polite to point.” Slicing a melodramatic Jermaine until he wailed over his ‘missing’ finger and ‘bleeding’ abdomen, Barry loomed, pink lips a sneer and tone a scorn. “Just because my woman’s mopping the floor with your buddy…” Jermaine cowered before Barry’s terrifying expression, a whispered ‘oh shit…’ muttered as Barry discarded his jacket and cracked his neck. “...Is no reason for you to join in.”

Barry spun around to shoot Kirby as the intruding cook, who promptly issued an overzealous scream before collapsing to the ground. Grace continued throwing Nick around, sinking a foot into his stomach as her chilling cry echoed throughout the studio. “How sexy am I now, huh, pretty boy?”

“Sexier than hell, baby.” Tongue to his teeth and dark eyebrows dancing, Barry didn’t know if Cousineau would appreciate the ad lib, but the expression of flattered surprise from Grace was worth it before he killed the third hick, played by a bystanding Eric, by throwing his mimed knife through the window. 

After Barry emptied the cash register, when Grace leapt into his arms, the temptation to claim her lips, let his hands venture south, proved nearly overwhelming. But Barry contented himself with a squeeze of Grace’s plush waist before picking off Natalie’s character, the two strutting up to Antonio with devilish grins.

Antonio swallowed heavily, looking between Barry and Grace as though he may truly be in danger, palms aloft in dismay. Finger inching closer and closer to his unsure face, no light remained in Grace’s eyes, speech dead, flat. “When them people come here and they ask you who done this…” Grace took her time, allowing the words to wash over, unlike the heated delivery from the movie. Cold. Calculated. “You tell them Mickey and Mallory Knox did it. Alright?” Pausing for what could’ve been a full minute, when Grace’s tone returned, she hollered with such gusto even Barry jumped. “SAY IT!”

“M-Mickey and Mallory Knox did it…” Antonio replied, quivering, and Barry suspected in that moment no acting was necessary on his part.

Facing Barry, Grace’s emerald gaze crawled lasciviously over his tall frame, lips pouted as she combed back her scarlet tresses. “Mickey and Mallory Knox…” Barry tossed her a wink as he holstered his ‘gun’ and Grace beamed. “I love you, Mickey.”

“I love you, Mallory.” Powerful arms open, Barry scooped Grace up, fusing to her lips. Licking into one another’s mouths with fervor, Barry hummed, intoxicated by her delicate fingers prancing through the chestnut fields of his hair as his big hand may or may not have wandered down to cup the curve of her ass while they aimlessly revolved.

Cousineau called cut. Said it again. And again, until he finally clapped, standing and waving his script in the air. “Hello? Barry, Grace? Still with me here?”

Breaking apart, blotchy with embarrassment, Barry and Grace nodded. “Yeah, sorry…” Barry wiped a wrist over his pink lips before folding them under guiltily.

“Yeah, um...sorry Mr. Cousineau…” Face almost matching her hair, Grace half hid behind Barry’s broad frame while Gene gave final notes.

“Alright everyone, think about what I said. We’ll run it one more time when we get here on Friday. And then we’ll move on. Sound good?” Gene held his palms up and nodded before dismissing them for the day, everyone milling about and saying their goodbyes. 

Barry cautiously approached Grace, hitching his backpack up on his vast shoulder. “So, um...did you still want to--”

“Yes.” Afraid she sounded overeager, Grace cleared her throat. “I mean...if, if you still want to…”

Nodding, a tiny smile of joy played over his supple lips as Barry tapped a thick thigh. “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Grace sighed in relief. “Great, um…” Seeing their departing classmates, she bit the inside of her cheek. “So...do you want to...I’ll just give you my address and you can meet me there? I mean…” Rolling her eyes, Grace shrugged. “You know how everyone likes to gossip, so…”

“Right.” Barry nodded, retrieving his phone. “Good idea.”

As Grace drove to her apartment she pondered, not for the first time, what sort of lover Barry might be. Soft and tender? Playful and mischievous? Rough and breathtaking? Grace couldn’t fully comprehend why he agreed to her proposition today. Barry didn’t seem like the hookup type. But whatever the reason, she was grateful, and Grace decided, hands tightening on the steering wheel, to make the most of their tryst.

Barry rounded the corner to Grace’s building, fingers rattling and leg bouncing. Not used to one night stands, Barry didn’t know what sort of etiquette to expect. How should they initiate the act? Would they talk about things first? Would he be spending the night, or go home after? And how would he know if she didn’t tell him, should he ask if he could sleep there? Was that awkward? 

Those and dozens, perhaps hundreds of other questions fogged his brain as Barry rolled to a stop behind Grace, hands in his pockets with an unnerved smile as he followed her to the front door. 

“Alright, well, this is my place…” Grace entered, toeing off her shoes as Barry followed suit. “Are you hungry? Do you want anything to drink? I have water, juice. I think I have a beer or two…”

“Water’s fine, thanks.” Oddly wedging himself into the kitchen entrance, Barry accepted the glass with appreciation and for a moment they both silently sipped, avoiding each other’s eyes and the situation.

“So, um…” Grace set her water down on the counter and took a breath. “I was thinking on the way over here...you know, since we’re not, we’re not in a relationship and all...I was thinking it would be best to be, like, realistic. About this…”

Angling his head, Barry’s sapphire eyes narrowed. “Okay...what do you mean?”

“I mean, like…” Pursing her lips, Grace’s hands groped in the air for the right words as she stared off at nothing. “Like, so the first time with someone is usually awkward, right? Like neither of you say what you really want and you’re so worried about impressing the other person, and it’s just never as good as it could be, right?”

A soft chuckle left Barry and he nodded in acquiescence. “Yeah. Right. I know what you mean.”

“Okay, so…” Meeting Barry’s deep blue gaze, Grace bit her lip. “Let’s just...not do that. Let’s be up front about what we want. Because…” A deep, resigned sigh escaped her and Grace slumped forward. “I’ve wanted to fuck you for a long time, Barry. And if this is my only shot, well, damn it, I want it to be worth it, you know?”

Barry’s giggle, overbite on display and mountainous shoulders quaking, ricocheted off the walls before he scratched down the side of his rough cheek. “Alright. That’s...that’s fair. I like the sound of that. So, um…” Swallowing, Barry touched a fingertip to the counter between them, slipping mindlessly back and forth. “What...what do you want, then?”

“Well…” Voice a timid whisper, Grace studied her floor tiles. “I...I kind of like it when...well, if...if you wanted to be…” Lifting a shoulder, she peeked at Barry for half a second, breath held. “In control. Maybe. If...if you’re into that…”

A shudder rocked throughout Barry’s tall frame and he caught himself white knuckling the counter as his cock twitched beneath his boxers. “Yeah, I, um…” Words wavering in his enthrallment, Barry forgot to blink as he soaked in the image of Grace’s body, mentally picturing what lay beneath her wardrobe. “I can do that. Definitely. Sure.”

“Yeah?”  
Afraid to hope, Grace arched an auburn brow and Barry nodded eagerly. “Yeah, that’s…” Cords of his neck working over the excitation of his Adam's apple, Barry shivered. “That’s...that’s pretty hot. Just…I don’t…” Grinding his teeth, the plains of Barry’s handsome face stood out in worried relief as his eyes fell, lost from Grace, from everything, for a moment. “I wouldn’t want to...you know, go too far or anything, so...how...how do you want to do that?”

“Oh, um…” Puffing out her cheeks, Grace nodded. “Well, my...I’ve used the safeword ‘mustard’ before. I don’t...if that works for you…”

“Sure, yup.” Barry bobbed his head. “Of course. Um, but, I still...I’d rather we didn’t get anywhere close to you...well, you know, so, um...what...what are you looking for, I guess?” 

Grace inhaled. Exhaled. Flicked out her wrists. “Oookay, so…” Shaking her head, she blinked and tried to look at Barry, to be an adult, and not let the discomfort of the situation overwhelm. “So, I...I would like it if you bossed me around a little. Being told to, um…” Grace’s green eyes slid away and she began speaking rapidly, every word turning Barry a more violent shade of pink. “Touch you or suck you would be really hot. I’d like that. If you’re into going down on me, too. Also that. Fucking me hard. As hard as you want. Please. Yes. Good. Um, you can say things…” Wringing her hands, Grace folded in on herself as she continued. “Like...if you...if you wanted to talk about how much I…” Grace exhaled audibly, covering her face. “Make me say ‘I love your cock’ or whatever, you know, stuff like that. But I’m not super into humiliation beyond that. Like, please, don’t call me stupid or insult my appearance or anything. That’s not sexy to me. But otherwise, like...yeah. All...all of that.”

Half mast erection unfurling beneath his jeans, Barry nodded slowly, left eye seizing in his ardor. “And, um, if…” Barry didn’t notice his hand unconsciously stroking the counter as he spoke. “If...I want you to...sit on my face…” Grace’s knees nearly failed to keep her upright at Barry’s flinty voice murmuring these words. “Or...maybe…” Nostrils expanding, Barry bit a lip and glanced away. “If...if I could...fuck yours, too...I don’t know…” Shaking his head quickly, Barry held his large palms up. “I’m sorry. If that’s too much, I...I just--

“No.” Grace interjected, taking half a step forward, and then another. “That’s...yeah. Let’s...I want. That. Yes. Please.”

“Yeah?” A crackling silence bloomed and Barry could hear a clock ticking somewhere in Grace’s apartment, could hear breathing synced to the rise and fall of her ample breasts as she stared back, unblinking.

“Yeah…”

Crashing into one another with zeal, Barry claimed Grace’s mouth, her hips, huge hands roaming over her hills and valleys as she sought to soak up every inch of his delectable being before he shoved her back against the wall. 

“Hey.” Artful nose millimeters from her own and voice a sultry stranger, Barry’s lengthy fingers closed around Grace’s wrist, pinning her arm overhead. “Did I say you could touch me?”

“No…” Grace gasped, sensing Barry’s considerable erection prodding her hip as he nuzzled a sandpaper cheek against her own. 

“I didn’t think so…” Note of succor creeping into his tone, Barry flowed down to massage Grace’s breast over the shirt, supple lips dipping into the crook of her neck to kiss a path to her ear. “So…” Rounded teeth scraped over Grace’s sensitive skin and she rolled into Barry’s broad, addictive frame. “You’ve thought about fucking me for a long time, huh?”

Nodding feverishly, Grace turned into Barry, touching a kiss to the joint of his crisp jaw. “Yes. So long, Barry…”

“Mmm…” Reverberations from his solid chest zapping through to her spine, Barry’s large hand cascaded down, down, down; notching between Grace’s thighs and digging into the denim-clad heat. “Did you touch yourself, Grace? Hmm? Did you cum thinking about me fucking you?”

“Yes.” Grace rocked into Barry’s fingers, needy for friction. “So many times, Barry.  _ Fuck! _ ” Snatching at the hemline of his henley, Grace’s lips sang a silent song of want over Barry’s pallid flesh. “Let me see you. Please. Barry, you’re so sexy.”

A deep chuckle rumbled through Barry as he unpopped the button on Grace’s jeans. “Oh...I don’t think so.” Dropping to his knees, Barry locked into Grace with impish eyes of blue as he lowered her pants along with her underwear. “At least, not yet. You first…” 

Barry rose, peeling away Grace’s shirt and hastily unhooking her bra. Flinging the garment aside, Barry reveled in slathering her naked body with himself, working Grace up and down the wall as he twirled his tongue into her mouth greedily.

“Mmm…” Kneading her wide hips, Barry knelt before Grace, laying scratchy kisses below her navel before encouraging a leg over his vast shoulder. “Grace…”

Long tongue lolling and sharp jaw striking forward, Barry consumed her as though Grace were the merciful oasis awaiting him after weeks of dragging his haggard body across the unforgiving desert, lapping at her tender flesh with a grateful groan. 

“Oh…” Single syllable of awe tittering out as her fingers wove into his brunette tresses, Grace’s knee wobbled dangerously as Barry swirled around her clit, cobalt eyes nearly black with lust, hand gliding up her inner thigh. “Barry... _ fuck!” _

Square chin shining, Barry didn’t sever the tether of their gaze as he planted a kiss to one of Grace’s thighs, then the other, two fingertips twiddling to replace his voracious mouth. “You want my fingers inside?” 

Barry stared up, shimmering mouth a flat line and eyes a dare. It almost wasn’t a question. “Yeah…” Nodding exuberantly, Grace petted over Barry’s scalp, lightly urging him back between her legs. “Yes... _ please!” _

Enveloping her swelling clit with his supple lips, Barry devoured Grace with the boundless intensity of a starving man who spots a pristine, choice morsel lying unattended, falling upon the bounty of her drenched pussy and inhaling her until she shrieked. Within seconds a deep, pervading tap of delirium-inducing pressure caused Grace to curl over Barry’s knelt body, tearing at his brown hair as her leg failed to keep her aloft. “ _ Oh Barry! Fuck! Fuck!” _

Momentarily retreating from within, Barry’s powerful arms slithered behind her trembling body, Grace airborne as he wriggled them backward, laying himself flat on her floor with a grunt. Parked on his built chest and looking down, Grace barely took a breath before Barry, nodding, perhaps to himself, clamped his huge hands over her hips. “Come  _ here.” _

Fabric of his henley bunching up and exposing his little belly, Barry buried his face into the moist heat, cracking a wide palm over Grace’s plump ass, her squeal zinging straight to his straining cock before he plunged his fingers into her pleading pussy once more.

Were Barry not so preoccupied with her pleasure, the desire to touch himself would prove insatiable, such was the symphony of Grace’s euphoria overhead as she shamelessly rutted into Barry’s magical mouth, rawing her thighs over the grit of his cheeks. “ _ Oh Barry! Fuck! Fuck! I’m cumming! Yes! Fuck!” _

Palms slapped the floor above and Barry nearly smothered with the squeeze of her thighs, the smush of her belly, but he didn’t give a damn as Grace dripped over his face, screams clear through the muffling of her own elation-hazed body. “ _ Barry! Fuck! Yes! Barry! Keep going! Please! Fuck! FUCK!” _

Huffing a cloud of fatigued condensation onto her floorboards, Grace flopped off of Barry, limbs weak and jerking as she shook her head. “Enough, I...I’m…” Grace waved a hand vaguely in his direction as Barry lifted his collar to wipe his face, little smile of pride unseen in her eye-closed recovery. “I’m...that was great. Thanks. I just...yeah. Gimme a minute.”

With a teensy giggle, Barry curled on his side, resting on his folded arm as his fingers trickled lazily up and down the substantial curve of Grace’s heaving body, greeting her with a mismatched grin when her eyes fluttered open. 

Grace took Barry in, the disheveled mop of chestnut waves, his henley askew, and the thick column of his erection standing unattended beneath the confines of his jeans. Mouth filling with saliva, she scooted close and hooked two fingers into his waistband. “You want me to do something about that?”

Silent, Barry smirked back at Grace. Then, with frightful velocity, he hopped to his feet, a large fist twisting in her red hair and hauling her up, Grace’s ear instantly mashed to hot, demanding lips. “Yes.” Barry snapped both of Grace’s wrists between one large fist, pinning them behind her back and marching her forward, all the while the flint of his voice sparking into an inferno. “You’re going to suck my cock…” Feet skipping over the floor as Barry sped up, Grace tingled as his erection poked into the cleft of her ass and he dropped her hair long enough to flip on the bedroom light. “And you’re going to fucking love it.”

“ _ Yes!” _ Grace exhaled as Barry tossed her unceremoniously into the room. “Fuck! Barry, please! Let me suck you. I want to so fucking badly.”

Unzipping his jeans, Barry shocked himself with the rod of steel in his speech as he glared at Grace. “Then get on your fucking knees.”

As Barry shrugged out of his pants and boxers, Grace’s eyes widened at his heavy cock, purple and leaking, while he shucked off his henley before approaching. “So…” Barry gave himself a luxuriant stroke, cupping Grace’s chin with the other hand. “You love sucking cock, don’t you?” Brushing the wide head over her painted lips, Barry’s breath hitched when her tongue darted out to collect the precum from his tip. “Have you been thinking about swallowing my cock, Grace?”

“Yes.” Fingers enclosing Barry’s shaft, Grace touched a kiss to the artfully formed head before laying a salacious swath from root to tip. “I love it. I love thinking about your big cock all the way down my throat…” Grace inched the hot circle of her lips halfway over his length, retracting with aching slowness until a deep, shuttering, ‘Oh…’ puffed out of Barry’s scrunched face as he grabbed her head. “And I love playing with my pussy when I think about you fucking my face. So come on, Barry.” Mouth around the tip and inhaling vehemently, Grace winked as Barry’s fingers clutched her scalp. “Go for it.”

“Oh fuck  _ yes… _ ” Sharp jaw dropping in his fervor, Barry rotated his hips into the tantalizing warmth, muscular thighs flexing as he pulled back with a moan. “ _ Fuck!  _ Yes, Grace... _ Suck me!” _ Barry took her skull in both of his huge hands, spine curling as his pelvis rocked. “ _ Oh fuck! Fuck, Grace, yes! Yes! Just like that! Keep sucking me! So damn good! Your mouth! Fuck! Yes!” _

Smacking his massive cock into the wet hole of her mouth, Barry’s noises morphed into whimpers, flubbing and vulnerable as ten points of desperate pressure appeared around Grace’s hoovering face. “ _ Uh huh! Uh huh! Grace! Oh fuck! Yeah! I love it! Please! Oh Grace! Oh fuck! Suck me! Fuck! Yeah! Fuck! Fuck!” _

One shapely leg shaking, Barry squinched his eyes and held his breath, reluctantly slowing the circuit. “Fuck...alright, I…” Licking his lips, Barry nodded, massaging through Grace’s scarlet tresses as he stepped back to remove his doused cock. “I...I have to stop. I still...want to fuck you, so…”

Barry swallowed, stammered breath escaping as he pinched the bridge of his patrician nose to steady himself while Grace wiped the moisture from her eyes and mouth. “Get...get on the bed.” Command lost to him with his ragged need, Barry’s chest heaved as he glanced around the room. “Do you have any condoms? I don’t…” Eyes shifting, Barry teetered his head. “I didn’t exactly plan on this today, so…”

“Oh, I’m on the pill, it’s fine.” Grace slid back on the mattress, and as Barry joined her, a wicked smile floated to her plump lips as her honeyed voice called out. “You can cum inside me if you want.”

Halfway to her, Barry froze, azure gaze traveling up Grace’s nude body to dawdle on the playground of her grinning face. “Oh fuck yes…” Barry chuckled, taking a leg in each of his large hands and cracking her open without apology. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Barry positioned himself above, Grace’s fingers mincing through his fluffy dark chest hair as she smiled at her correctness about just how good his tall body would feel weighing her down. “You ready?” 

Thick cock smearing the edges of her entrance, Barry tilted his head and Grace draped her arms over his broad shoulders. “Yes.”

Inch by luscious inch Barry stretched her open, Grace’s spine arching as she accommodated his massive cock with a gasp. Barry thrust until their flesh united, holding still and silent, breathing. Breathing.

Up until that point, the night was a whirlwind of expended lust for both. But in the careful quiet, Grace’s fingers soaking in Barry’s warm, pale skin; Barry touching a kiss to the hollow of her throat, both took the time to appreciate the solace of one another’s bodies.

Grace wouldn’t dare admit to Barry how much time she spent thinking about this exact moment. How her fantasies extended far beyond the extravagances of his talented tongue, his dexterous hands. New to Los Angeles and terrified out of her mind, Grace would never want to say how much Barry’s kindness, his effusive warmth and welcome, made her feel less alone. Safe. Almost home.

Barry didn’t want to think about the time passed since he touched another person. How his wan flesh sobbed in the empty darkness, imploring him to go out, find someone, anyone, to hold him, hug him, just for a night. An hour. Please. Someone. Anything. 

So for Grace to make this process easy on Barry. Remove the burden of relationship and allow him to surrender to the appetites of his libido, even if only for one turn of the clock, meant more than he could say. 

Barry captured her lips, agile fingers locating Grace’s clit as he began to whip into a languorous rhythm. “So…” Clearing the locks of crimson from her face, Barry kissed Grace’s chin, her cheek as he spoke. “You said you wanted to get fucked hard? Hmm?”

“Yes.” To demonstrate, Grace slammed her pelvis skyward, contracting the walls of her vagina and nodding effusively. “Fuck me, Barry. Hard. Now.”

“Yeah?” Coming up on one knee, Barry looped Grace’s leg over his waist, driving his thick cock into her with reckless ferocity. “Like that? Is that what you want, Grace? Huh?  _ Huh?” _

Flinching in elation as Barry nailed her g-spot, Grace’s moans transformed to screams. “ _ Yes! Yes, just like that! Right there! Yes! Fuck! Barry!” _

As Grace squeezed, Barry pounded with fury, racing over her clit in haste. “Yeah, are you gonna cum on my cock, Grace? Huh?  _ Huh?” _ Balancing their foreheads together, a note of high-pitched frenzy invaded Barry’s query. “Huh, Grace? Are you? Cum on my cock, Grace. Please... _ Fuck!  _ Grace, I wanna feel you cum so fucking bad…”

“ _ Yes! Yes! Yes!” _ Propelling herself up and down the bed, Grace convulsed around Barry’s barreling body, eyes white as she screeched. “ _ Fuck! Barry! I’m cumming! I’m cumming!” _

Grace’s sopping pussy clutched violently and Barry whimpered, toes scrambling over the sheets. “ _ Oh fuck! Oh Grace!”  _ Movements hectic and harried, Barry slammed Grace into the mattress until the wood of the headboard cracked in protest. “ _ Fuck! Grace! I’m gonna cum! Gonna cum in your pussy! Fuck! Fuck! Grace! Yes! Fuck!” _

Body elongated and breath held, Barry’s hips continued to erratically pulse. “ _ Fuck!”  _ A tormented whine breached his pink lips as Barry’s left eye twitched, cum throbbing into Grace’s depths as his pelvis jumped. “Oh fuck...fuck...fuck…” 

Grace continued to pulsate around him and Barry told himself to breathe, merely succeeding in getting a noseful of her red tresses as he laid boneless on top of her chuckling body. Dainty fingers tickled through his hair, black from sweat, and over the hills of his shoulders as Barry recouped. “What’s funny?”

“Oh nothing, just…” Savoring Barry’s presence within as their damp skin dried, Grace gently swayed them back and forth, kissing his stubbled cheek. “Your face, when you...it reminded me… Last week, when we were doing the mirror exercise in class. To warm up. You looked like...that.”

Head popping up, Barry's expression of horror got Grace laughing all over again. “Oh no...you’re telling me…” Eyes wide, Barry looked down in disbelief. “I make my cum face during the mirror exercise?! What? No! How--”

“Relax…” Grace caressed Barry’s prominent cheekbone with a smile. “It’s...a very nice face. You don’t have anything to be ashamed about.”

Taking in her words, her adoring expression, Barry’s wonky grin surfaced, wondering if he could accept freely given Grace. “If you say so.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read! If you enjoyed this story, please leave a comment or come say hi on tumblr at fandomtransmandom. I also accept requests


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